Original Imperial German WWI Cased Prussian Iron Cross First Class 1914 with Pinback by the Royal Mint Order - EKI Category_Spade Grip Assembly Requirements to receive the award

Requirements to receive the award included: an outstandingly successful sortie

not the Army star

Unfortunately the year and cleaning have removed all of this

complete with a legible "May 1843"

Original Imperial German WWI Cased Prussian Iron Cross First Class 1914 with Pinback by the Royal Mint Order - EKI Category_Spade Grip Assembly Requirements to receive the awardOriginal Item: Only One Available. Established by Frederick William in 1813 for gallantry in action, the decoration was revived several times for later conflicts. The bulk of the issues are divided into 1st and 2nd class versions, but a rare and superior 'Grand Cross' was also awarded for successful field commanders. During WW1 the lower decoration was freely awarded with 5 million second class types issued. Originally, the Iron Cross was an award of